Air Traffic Control

News about Air Traffic Control, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Oct. 28, 2014

Small airport in northern Sweden is showcasing remote control technology that many expect will eventually transform the way air traffic is managed worldwide; air traffic controllers will 'virtually' guide daily flights. MORE

Oct. 1, 2014

Federal Aviation Administration begins 30-day review of air traffic control system and will focus on two critical issues: decreasing vulnerability to failures at single location and keeping closer track of contractors, who perform growing portion of work; National Airspace System has long been prone to failures that can delay both planes and air control data, with ripple effect through nation. MORE

Sep. 27, 2014

Brian Howard, contract employee at a suburban Chicago air traffic control center, is charged with felony count of destruction of aircraft facility; Howard set fire at center that brought O'Hare and Midway airports to halt for hours. MORE

Jul. 19, 2014

Op-Ed article by journalist and author James Fallows holds that Malaysia Airlines is not at fault for disaster in which one of its planes was shot down over Ukraine; says flight's route over conflict zone reflects standards established by international air control system and appeared to be both legal and safe; holds that air transportation could not operate if it had to avoid every conceivable threat. MORE

May. 1, 2014

Computer failure at Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center forces Federal Aviation Administration to hold planes on ground at Los Angeles International Airport and other airports in region; government officials are uncertain why system failed. MORE

Jun. 12, 2013

Air traffic controllers in France begin three-day strike to protest European Union plans to accelerate the integration of the region’s fragmented air space; 1,800 flights, about half of all scheduled flights, are cancelled. MORE

Apr. 28, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration says that it has suspended its employee furloughs and is returning to normal staffing levels, while Pres Obama spars with Congressional Republicans over who is to blame for week of air-traffic slowdowns. MORE

Apr. 27, 2013

House, showing remarkable speed, overwhelmingly approves legislation to give the secretary of transportation enough financial flexibility to shift as much as $253 million to the strapped air traffic control system; action causes Pres Obama and Congressional Democrats to abandon their once-firm stand that growing airport bottlenecks would be addressed only in a broader fix to across-the-board spending cuts, accepting bipartisan legislation. MORE

Apr. 27, 2013

Editorial criticizes Congress for rushing bill to avert embarrassing sequester furloughs to air traffic controllers that snarled business travel across country, while doing nothing to aid low-income victims of budget cuts; holds incident is classic example of lawmakers catering their efforts to wealthy while ignoring needs of those who cannot exert pressure in Washington. MORE

Apr. 26, 2013

Senate, driven by bipartisan concerns over mounting airport delays, reaches agreement giving secretary of transportation enough flexibility to stop further budget-related furloughs and bring nation’s air-traffic control system back up to full strength; bill would allow as much as $253 million to be moved from other parts of Transportation Dept to Federal Aviation Administration. MORE

Apr. 25, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael P Huerta tells skeptical Republicans on House appropriations subcommittee that sequestration has forced agency to be run like starving airline; says budget cuts have caused air traffic delays and halt to hiring. MORE

Apr. 24, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration says furlough of air traffic controllers delayed more than 1,200 flights on first weekday of unpaid leaves; lawmakers criticize agency's handling of automatic budget cuts required by sequestration. MORE

Apr. 23, 2013

Flights are delayed up to two hours across country on first weekday that nation's air traffic control system operated with 10 percent fewer controllers; pilots, gate agents and others are quick to blame furloughs caused by mandatory across-the-board budget cuts, but Federal Aviation Administration says it is too soon to tell. MORE

Apr. 19, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael P Huerta and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood say with furloughs of air traffic controllers beginning due to sequestration, some airports will have increased delays. MORE

Apr. 6, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration says it will delay closing control towers at 149 airports until June 2013 to allow for safety analyses; closings had been planned as part of $637 million spending reduction at agency required under across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester. MORE

Mar. 30, 2013

Five airports mount legal challenge to Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to close 149 air traffic control towers because of federal budget cuts. MORE

Mar. 23, 2013

Federal Aviation Administration, due to federal budget cuts, says it will close 149 control towers at smaller airports, but even a tower at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago could be affected. MORE

Feb. 23, 2013

White House warns of potentially severe disruptions in air travel if across-the-board spending cuts take effect, intensifying pressure on Congressional Republicans to entertain spending reductions and tax increases to avoid sequester; threat of cascading flight delays highlights administration's belief that travel problems can sway public sentiment and encourage voters to force Republicans to the bargaining table. MORE

Feb. 22, 2013

Airlines and airports are preparing for impending across-the-board federal budget cuts as if they were a hurricane, with takeoff delays, flight cancellations and slower security lines possible. MORE

Oct. 11, 2012

European Union's transport commissioner Slim Kallas plans to threaten legal action against member governments that do not soon take serious steps toward integrating their air traffic control operations; aim is to reduce costs and millions of tons in wasted fuel. MORE

Aug. 3, 2012

Federal regulators say they are investigating an episode at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington in which three regional jets were allowed to get too close to one another. MORE

May. 22, 2012

Joe Sharkey On the Road column maintains proficiency in English, the official language of international aviation, is especially critical when pilots and air traffic controllers do not share the same native language. MORE

Apr. 4, 2012

Airlines and airports are testing a satellite technology-based guidance system that could reduce congestion and fuel consumption by allowing planes to take a more direct route to the runway; Alaska Airlines flights will begin extensive testing of the system to land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport; system, if adopted nationwide, would replace the radar-based air traffic control system in place since the 1940s. MORE

Feb. 15, 2012

Pres Obama signs legislation that finances the modernization of the nation’s aviation system, speeding up the switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology. MORE

Feb. 7, 2012

Senate passes a four-year, $63 billion compromise bill to renew and extend federal aviation programs through 2015; measure will speed the modernization of the air traffic control system toward the era of satellite navigation and stabilize the Federal Aviation Administration, whose authorization expired in 2007. MORE

Oct. 19, 2011

National Transportation Safety Board report concludes that two airliners landed in error at Reagan National Airport in March after lone tower controller fell asleep and regional officials reacted incorrectly. MORE

Mr. Poli received harsh criticism after the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike in 1981 as President Ronald Reagan responded by dismissing 11,500 controllers in what is now viewed as a seminal moment in the decline of...